Measurement of Innovation in Economic Growth Research

Stanojević, Nataša and Kotlica, Slobodan and Zakić, Katarina (2022) Measurement of Innovation in Economic Growth Research. In: 4th Virtual international conference Path to a Knowledge Society-Managing Risks and Innovation PaKSoM 2022. Complex System Research Centre: Mathematical Institute of SASA, Niš, pp. 187-194. ISBN 978-86-7067-308-3

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Abstract

Research belongs to the field of methodology of economic sciences. The article analyzes the causes of the inability of economic models and indicators to measure the impact of knowledge and innovation on economic growth, despite the general agreement about their positive effects. The article presents the evolution of the inclusion of the knowledge variable and technological achievements in models of economic growth. Second, the quantitative innovation indicators were classified, and their limitations were assessed. Finally, two current processes that present new challenges for measuring the economic effects of innovations are analyzed: mass digitalization and the increasingly frequent occurrence of open instead of closed innovations. The goal is to separate obstacles for evaluating innovative effects that can be overcome from those that cannot due to the fluid nature of innovation. This distinction determines the optimal relationship between the methods and framework of economic growth research. The article results showed that reliable economic growth research must be primarily based on the measurement of direct innovative output, while input criteria (investment in R&D) and indirect outputs (number of patents) can only be auxiliary criteria. As data collection on the direct outputs of innovations implies extensive work by researchers, a lot of time and emphasized flexibility in data collection, and a significant geographical or sectoral narrowing of the research subject.

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